My First Influenster VoxBox – Max Factor Review

So, if you haven’t heard of Influenster (I’m sure most of you have) – It’s a platform which allows people to review products/share questions and pictures with the objective to unlock badges and ultimately… receive VoxBoxes.

A VoxBox is a complimentary box of goodies provided by Influenster and the receiver is asked to take pictures/share an honest review.

The good news is, you don’t have to have a huge ‘social impact score’ (amount of followers between your channels) to gain boxes… you just have to review a lot of products and share genuine opinions, whether good or bad.

So, Influenster just launched in the UK after the platform become a huge success story in the US. I entered a little competition to win my first box… and wala – I was sent a trio of Max Factor goodies. Two products which I really like and one which I’m not such a fan of.

First of all, let’s talk about the good products…

I really, really like the combination of the Universal Lip Liner and Colour Elixir Lipstick (demonstrated on the left).

The lip liner is a white, creamy formulation which has been designed to suit every lipstick shade.

Gone are the days of rooting around for a colour match – this invisible formulation compliments every skin tone and lipstick colour.

One thing is for sure – it definitely helped in preventing my Colour Elixir Lipstick from bleeding (a huge issue I experience with most traditional lipsticks). I also applied it across the entire bare lip and I’m convinced it helped the lipstick to cling to my lips a little longer.

The Colour Elixir lipstick itself (tested in the shade Pearl Maron) is neither a matte, nor a traditional gloss.

The best way I can describe it, is to compare it with the slightly shiny lipstick products we were all obsessing over in the nineties – easy to apply, fairly pigmented, nourishing due to the creamy formula and surprisingly long-lasting.

I managed to go from 7am-3pm without reapplying and although the colour faded, I wasn’t offended by this lesser colour – making it a great choice if you don’t have the time for touch-ups throughout the day, but want to add some impact to your morning makeup routine.

In comparison, I wasn’t a huge fan of the Honey Lacquer in the shade Honey Rose…

This isn’t necessarily a product fault, I just generally don’t get along with lacquer-like formulas as my natural lip pigment is inconsistent and I feel like glosses just aren’t me… Lets blame years of matte lipstick application.

The one thing I have to give this product credit for is the gorgeous pink shade.

Besides this, I was a little disappointed by the thick but transparent nature of the product. I expected it to at least deliver the effect of a gloss with the slight pigmentation of a lipstick but I feel that the formula just appeared uneven on my lips within a few minutes and actually highlighted the natural discolouration of my lip.

In my eyes, if I can see my lip colour beneath a product… and I’m not wearing a transparent gloss, it has failed me.